Legacy of Civil War should remain alive in American memory

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Did America need the Civil War?

I grappled with this concept on a recent class trip… //

Did America need the Civil War?

I grappled with this concept on a recent class trip to Sharpsburg, Md. The pristine barrenness of the land was surprisingly beautiful as waves of peach-gold wheat washed up to where I stood on a lonely two-lane road. The noise generated by my American Way of War class cut through the tranquil silence as if it had never been broken. It was hard to believe that on the same pristine field nearly 150 years ago, 22,000 Americans died during the single bloodiest day of the Civil War